Congressman John Lewis, a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement’s most pivotal battles, served Georgia with unwavering dedication. His lifelong commitment to ‘good trouble’ was inspirational. His death in 2020 left many Americans yearning for his principled leadership and his relentless pursuit of equality.

Since he was a teenager, John Lewis (1940-2020) worked to create a more equal world for all Americans. During nonviolent civil protests, he was the victim of police beatings, and he was jailed more than 40 times fighting for civil rights.

In 1986, he was elected to Congress, representing the 5^th Congressional district of Georgia. He spent the rest of his life defending the crucial gains he helped achieve.

In 2016-2017, John Lewis, working with co-authors Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, wrote a graphic novel, March, documenting his participation in the civil rights movement. (The term “graphic novel” describes nonfiction work presented in a comic book format.) In it, he left many messages for all of us today.

March, Three-Volume Trilogy

After reading all three volumes of the graphic novel in succession, I was struck by the enormity of the ongoing effort that is required of the civil rights workers. When we think of the lunch counter sit-ins, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Freedom Riders, or the March on Washington, we forget that the protests were not isolated, single events. These actions were ongoing in many parts of the country.

In reading John Lewis’s story–from his home on his family’s Alabama sharecropper farm to his eventual leadership roles in civil rights organizations– one is struck by the unrelenting pace and the constant push that was necessary in order to fight for equal rights.

The Story: How Lewis Became Active

John Lewis was a teenager when he first heard Martin Luther King, Jr. on a radio broadcast. He was so inspired that he wrote him a letter and asked for a meeting. King said yes. In that meeting, John Lewis found his purpose. Though he was a shy young man, he knew he had to get involved politically.

He attended college in Nashville, and so it was in Tennessee where he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This was a grassroots student organization that began in 1960 and contributed significantly to expanding voting rights and challenging segregation.

The Nashville SNCC group planned nonviolent sit-in protests at segregated lunch counters in and around Nashville.

Students were outraged at the fact that they could spend their money in Nashville department stores, but they couldn’t eat at the store lunch counters or use the dressing rooms or bathrooms in these places.

Lunch Counter Sit-Ins

To prepare for these sit-ins to be non-violent, the students practiced receiving the type of treatment they knew to expect. They practiced taunting and verbally abusing each other. Those receiving the abuse rehearsed not responding. They wanted to present calm under duress.

Once SNCC undertook the demonstrations at lunch counters around Nashville, the process was long and slow. The students scheduled visits at lunch counters throughout town. The protesters repeated this process again and again.

They endured a barrage of abuse: they were spat upon, screamed at, struck, and hauled away in handcuffs. In one harrowing incident, a restaurant owner abandoned the students at the counter, plunging them into darkness, locking the doors, and unleashing a cloud of insecticide. Trapped and choking, the students feared for their lives.

No matter what terrible things befell them, the activists kept returning to stand up for their rights.

Change Came Slowly

On May 10, 1960, the students achieved a victory.

After six months of steady, nonviolent protests, six downtown Nashville department store lunch counters finally agreed to serve food to black customers.

Success was welcome, but the enjoyment was fleeting. The next challenge was to integrate movie theaters. The students started again.

Protests Throughout the South

The protests in Tennessee tell a story about just one small part of the country. There were efforts being made to integrate all types of institutions in Southern states—Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama to name a few.

By 1961, John Lewis was leader of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. That year the group undertook the racial discrimination taking place in interstate bus travel. (See the story about Sarah Keys Evans.) In 1955, the Interstate Commerce Commission handed a victory to Sarah Keys Evans and her attorney Dovey Roundtree.

The decision from the ICC, based on Roundtree’s legal argument, was that bus lines could not draw color lines no matter what part of the country they traveled. Yet nothing changed. The Jim Crow laws were still carried out bus driver-by-bus driver.

In 1961, John Lewis and SNCC as well as other civil rights groups organized what was called the Freedom Ride—all to make the case that discrimination was illegal on interstate transportation. Freedom Riders were beaten and jailed for prolonged periods of time. Buses were burned, and some protesters were killed in their stand for justice. Eventually they brought about change.

Freedom Summer 1964

When the voting rights fight moved to Mississippi in what was known as Freedom Summer (1964), John Lewis writes in March that the civil rights workers suffered 1000 arrests, 80 beatings, 35 shootings, 35 church burnings, and 30 bombings.

The volunteers who returned home from the summer frequently described symptoms that were like PTSD—-called “battle fatigue” then.

Selma to Montgomery for Voting Rights

By the mid-1960s, John Lewis was nationally known, included in what was referred to as the Big Six of civil rights leaders of the time. He was among the organizers of what was to be an orderly march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital, Montgomery, to campaign for voting rights. It was March of 1965; one of their protesters, a preacher, had been murdered the previous month so there was fear.

A peaceful march was planned, and the entire group knelt to pray before crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr., were among the participants. The march began in peace but by the time the group reached the Edmund Pettus bridge just outside Selma, they were attacked by state troopers using billy clubs and tear gas.

The attacks on the marchers were so violent that it became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Lewis was among those seriously injured, suffering a fractured skull.

The news coverage of what the police turned into a violent and bloody incident received worldwide coverage.

Another Effort

Two days later, another March was scheduled. That one, too, was halted. When they stopped, Martin Luther King Jr. led them all in prayer. The world saw that America had not become a place with equal rights after all.

Six days later, President Lyndon Johnson addressed the public on television pledging his commitment to a new voting rights act: “There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem,” Johnson said, “Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negros, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.”

That autumn, in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act.

Even today the defense of this right must continue. Our voting rights are still under attack. No one knew more about this than John Lewis.

Lewis in Politics

Lewis did not run for elective office until 1981 when he was joined to the Atlanta City Council. In 1986, he was elected to represent Georgia’s fifth district and served as a prominent member of Congress until his death in July of 2020.

In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded him the Medal of Freedom.

The Message from John Lewis and March

Today with unrest throughout the country, I highly recommend reading John Lewis’s March. The leaders of the civil rights movement have lessons for us about what it takes for people to stand up for their rights and bring about change.

As former President Barack Obama wrote when he heard that John Lewis died: “We all now have our marching orders—to keep believing in the possibility of remaking this country we love until it lives up to its full promise.”

Obama noted that in his final phone call with Lewis that John Lewis was proud of the young leaders today who are stepping forward to lead nonviolent protests and to run for political office and continue the long march to justice.

***

And if you want to be inspired by other Black leaders, read about World War II hero Dorie Miller, inventor Marie Van Brittan Brown, the Mongomery Bus Boycott, the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the Harlem Hellfighters, or the black paratroopers in World War II who trained themselves in order to be prepared to fight for their country. The list is long and illustrative of the many great Americans whose stories have not been told often enough.

Barbara Jordan (1936-96) was a dynamic and forceful African American from Texas who made great strides for American citizens. She exhibited a positive outlook, great intelligence, a good sense of humor, and had an uncanny ability to fully engage an audience.

Her most notable achievements were in politics. After a couple of election defeats in runs for the Texas state senate, she won a seat in 1966 after the law forced states to redistrict. In 1972, she became the first African American from the Deep South elected to the U.S. House of Representatives since the Reconstruction era. Once in Congress, she gained a plum assignment on the Judiciary Committee, and it was there she began to make history.

In 1994 she was honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom for her many accomplishments.

Barbara Jordan: Growing Up

Barbara Jordan was born in Houston, the youngest of three daughters of Benjamin and Arlyne (Patten) Jordan.  Ben Jordan was a minister, but the pay was not enough to support a family, so he also worked for a warehouse company. Her mother, who showed great oratorical skills in church work while she was a teenager, gave up thoughts of a career and opted to marry and be a housewife and mother.

Barbara and her sisters attended segregated public schools in elementary and high school. Later, fellow Texan and newspaper columnist Molly Ivins asked Barbara about those years. Jordan replied: “We were poor, but so was everyone around us, so we did not notice it.”

While she was growing up, her maternal grandfather was an important and loving influence in her life. After Sunday dinner, most of the family returned to church, but Barbara was permitted to stay with Grandfather Patten. He ran a junk business, and he and Barbara often spent Sunday afternoons sorting materials and talking. In her autobiography, Barbara Jordan: A Self-Portrait, Jordan notes that he taught her she could do anything, and that what Jesus wanted from everyone was to love humanity and to use their ingenuity to figure things out for themselves.

College Years

African Americans in Houston who were lucky enough to go to college generally attended Texas Southern University. (The school was formerly known as TSU for Negroes; it was still segregated during Jordan’s time despite the name change.) Barbara became interested in oratory and convinced the speech coach to permit her to join the all-male debate team.

Texas Southern University was competitive and among the top debate teams in the nation, frequently meeting up with Ivy League schools. There was one notable championship match against Harvard that was pronounced a “tie.” Many years later Jordan was to make good use of this story when she was Harvard’s commencement speaker.

A Taste of Life in the North

In 1956, Barbara Jordan graduated magna cum laude from TSU and was accepted to the law school at Boston University. The Jordan family’s pride in Barbara’s acceptance made the financial sacrifice of sending her north a little easier.

For Barbara, it was an eye-opening opportunity. While life in Boston was still skewed to favor whites, there were no delineations of places for “white only” and “colored.” Barbara began to see what life should hold—equality for all.

Perhaps her most important take-away from law school, however, was an underlying message. She saw that white law students often had family members who practiced law. Some had interned in these law offices or had benefited from the opportunity of hearing legal cases discussed. They also had other opportunities—museum visits, attendance at cultural performances, European travel—that provided them with greater knowledge of the world. Barbara understood there was no “remedial class” for these types of life experiences. She simply had to work harder.

After Law School

She received her law degree in 1959, and briefly considered staying in Boston where she had a job offer from the legal department of a big insurance company. Ultimately, however, she decided to return to Houston. Operating out of her parents’ living room, she did legal work for the underprivileged.

Among the issues being discussed in Houston in those years was the fact that the school system persisted in ignoring school integration—a ruling that occurred in 1954 with the Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. This and other matters inspired  Jordan to become politically active. In 1960, she volunteered with the Kennedy-Johnson presidential campaign. They recognized her power with audiences, and she soon found herself speaking around Texas, representing the Democratic ticket.

As she participated in the community, she saw that an elected position would be the best place to bring about change.

Early Campaigns

Barbara Jordan’s first two runs for state representative from Harris County taught her a great deal. Representatives ran “at large,” meaning that all candidates vied for the number of seats that were designated for Harris County, with the seats going to those with the most votes.

Jordan had the support of the local Democratic party, and she was a great campaigner. She read up on Texas government and was well prepared to discuss budgeting and welfare and her vision for reform. In two elections, she saw that she brought out minority voters, but she never became a top vote-getter.

Family members counseled her to settle down, marry, and practice law. As she listened to them, Jordan made the specific decision that governing was of paramount importance to her. She wouldn’t be deterred, no matter the cost.

Redistricting

Barbara Jordan lived through an era when Jim Crow laws affected Texas and the South—and to some extent, other parts of the country. While Brown v. Board of Education established that “separate but equal” wasn’t good enough, other legal cases contested the fact that many states drew their election districts to favor the white vote. Tennessee had not redrawn voting districts since 1901, and in 1962 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Baker v. Carr that Tennessee’s failure to redraw voting districts was unacceptable; federal courts were ordered to develop a judicial remedy.

“One person, one vote” was determined in Georgia in Gray v. Sanders, James Sanders objected to the “county unit” apportionment system that weighted some districts more heavily than others. The Supreme Court sided with Sanders. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas wrote the majority opinion referencing the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment stating: “The concept of political equality…can mean only one thing—one person, one vote.”

A case in Alabama and another in Georgia tested the apportionment for state voting districts. In both states, the legislative districts varied greatly in population, thereby reducing representation in those areas that were heavily populated. In both states, the the Court held that unequal districts were discriminatory. Here is the reasoning behind the decision in Georgia: Because a single congressman had to represent two to three times as many people as were represented by congressmen in other districts, the Georgia statute reduced the value of some votes and expanded the value of others: “…No right is more precious” than that of having a voice in elections. The decision held that “[t]o say that a vote is worth more in one district than in another… run[s] counter to our fundamental ideas of democratic government.'”

Harris County Redistricting

Collectively, these cases affected both northern and southern states that had neglected to adjust voting districts in keeping with changes in state population. Harris County was just one of many districts in Texas where legislative lines needed to be redrawn.

Barbara Jordan found herself in the newly created 11th State Senatorial District, including the 5^th Ward. This area was composed of 38 percent blacks, a large block of Chicanos, and white laborers affiliated with the AFL-CIO. These were groups that had shown strong support for Barbara Jordan in the previous elections—they just were outnumbered in the size of the district.

With this new districting, Barbara Jordan was ready to run again in 1966. But this time she campaigned differently. She’d learned that audiences didn’t want to hear about retrenchment and reform. They wanted to hear about her: Could she do a good job of representing them?

She became the first African American woman elected to the Texas state senate. She ushered through the state’s first law on minimum wage and worked to create the Texas Fair Employment Practices Commission.

Running for Congress

In 1972, she ran for Congress and won election to the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first black elected to Congress from Texas after Reconstruction.

Experience in state government taught her the importance of advocating for herself. Once elected, she called former President Lyndon Johnson for help in getting assigned to a good committee. Lyndon Johnson made the phone call she requested, and Wilbur Mills soon announced the Barbara Jordan would be taking a seat on the Judiciary Committee—an excellent assignment for a freshman in Congress.

Jordan and the Judiciary Committee

The Judiciary Committee of 1974 had an unusually difficult task before them. The country was in the midst of Watergate hearings, and the Judiciary Committee was wrestling with whether President Richard Nixon should be impeached. Impeachment was a dire step for Congress and the country. After much discussion behind closed doors, committee chairperson Peter Rodino decided committee comment should be public. Each committee member—all 35 of them–would be given a 15-minute slot for remarks that would be televised.

Barbara Jordan Makes History

With such a large committee, Barbara Jordan was not certain this was the best use of everyone’s time. Though she generally worked far in advance on her speeches, she didn’t this time. The night before she was to speak found Barbara with a blank sheet of paper. What she wrote that night was so effective that Americans were totally taken in by her intelligence and clear thought. (It remains a speech worth re-reading.)

After a few opening remarks, she began with a reminder of the very recent experiences of African American people under Jim Crow laws:

“Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: “’We the people’—it is a very eloquent beginning. But when the Constitution of the United States was completed on the 17^th of September in 1787, I was not included in that ‘We the people.’ I felt for many years that somehow George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decisions, I have finally been included in ‘We the people.’”

“…My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total.  I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.”

When the government faces a dire issue like presidential impeachment, Jordan notes that the Constitution assigned to Congress different duties: The House was given the job to determine whether the questions surrounding a possible impeachment were valid; the Senate was left to weigh the facts of the case. She proceeded with a well-ordered, evidence-based discussion, juxtaposing what was known to have occurred in the Nixon White House against impeachment criteria from the Framers of the United States Constitution.

“…The Framers confided in the Congress the power if need be, to remove the President in order to strike a delicate balance between a President swollen with power and grown tyrannical, and preservation of the independence of the Executive.”

Working from the Constitution

Jordan continues with words from James Madison, from the Virginia Ratification Convention: “If the President be connected in any suspicious manner with any person and there be grounds to believe that he will shelter him, he may be impeached.”

She adds the impeachment criteria raised at the Carolina Ratification Convention: “Those are impeachable “who behave amiss or betray their public trust.”

The Congresswoman then turned to the current time: “Beginning shortly after the Watergate break-in and continuing to the present time, the President has engaged in a series of public statements and actions designed to thwart the lawful investigation by government prosecutors. Moreover, the President has made public announcements and assertions bearing in the Watergate case which the evidence will show he knew to be false…”

With the pacing and rhythm of an expert speaker, Barbara Jordan returned to James Madison and his words from the Constitutional Convention: “A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution.”

“The Constitution charges the President with the task of taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, and yet the President has counseled his aides to commit perjury, willfully disregarded the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, concealed surreptitious entry, attempted to compromise a federal judge while publicly displaying his cooperation with the processes of criminal justice…”

Summing up, she spoke confidently:

“Has the President committed offenses and planned and directed and acquiesced in a course of conduct which the Constitution will not tolerate? That is the question. 

We know the question.

We should proceed to answer the question. 

It is reason and not passion which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision.”

With that, Barbara Jordan respectfully yielded her remaining time.

She reached her audience; viewers and listeners took notice.

(Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, before an impeachment trial could begin.)

Barbara Jordan Made Impact Elsewhere

Barbara Jordan had many issues that were important to her in representing her district. Among them were civil rights issues. She worked hard to extend the Voting Rights Act. She wanted to stem the various covert, convoluted ways that were taking the vote away from black people.

The injustices over gender were also on her mind. Shortly after she took her seat in the House of Representatives, the Equal Rights Amendment passed both houses of Congress (1972). As stipulated by law, the proposed amendment needed to be ratified by 38 of the 50 states.

On November 10, 1975, she had occasion to address her disbelief that the Equal Rights Amendment was still four states short of ratification three years into the process: The amendment is so simple, that in all of the negative rhetoric which you have heard about it, some of us who are for the amendment have had to go back and read it and see exactly what it is that it says.

It’s very simple: ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any other state on account of sex.’ To me, that is stated in plain, simple, ordinary English.”

Barbara Jordan had a way of calling out what she saw as stupidity or bigotry.

Keynoted Democratic National Convention

Barbara Jordan will long be remembered for being the first African American woman to give a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. But it wasn’t just her symbolic presence…it was the power embodied in her speech. The speech was given in Madison Square Garden in New York City on the first night of the convention, July 12, 1976.

This press report from columnist Sandy Grady of The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin gives a sense of her impact:

“The Democrats were losing to boredom, 1-0, last night when they had the good sense to bring Barbara Jordan off the bench.

“Miss Jordan, as the ballplayers say, took it downtown. She tore it up. Grand slam.

“Jimmy Carter, watching the Dems’ lovefest on TV in his Americana Hotel suite, could only feel lucky he won’t have to follow Barbara Jordan’s act for three days. Getting on the same podium with Miss Jordan is like trying to sing along with Marian Anderson.”

Change of Course

By the mid- to late 1970s, Barbara Jordan took a fresh look at to her future. She was a national, well-respected figure by this time and knew she now had power to make a difference on her own. She was also showing signs of multiple sclerosis. The physical limitations she faced made her think more about what she wanted to achieve and how.

She furthered her thinking that spring when she heard from Harvard. The first call invited her to campus to receive an honorary degree at graduation. The second call was from the commencement committee: Would she give the commencement address? She was the committee’s first pick.

Of course she would, and it gave her an opportunity to talk about what she viewed as her next calling: Making certain people understood they had a voice. Voting counts, and all citizens need to take part in their communities and the government.

Addressing Harvard Audience

But before her main message, she had some unfinished business with Harvard. When she was on the debate team at TSU, Harvard and TSU were among the final teams for the top award. Ultimately, the judges determined the debate was a tie.

Jordan set the scene and then proceeded with her remarks: “Now it occurs to me today that if Harvard students were so superior –or as superior as we all thought–they should have won. And since the judges said the debate ended in a tie, we must have won.

“So, Mr. President and all of the alumni, I hereby declare that when that debate was held over twenty years ago, we won. And if you have any surplus trophies around anywhere I’ll take one home to the team. And if you should run into two gentlemen—one’s name was Jared Diamond and the other, James Sykes—they were the Harvard debaters at that time, I invite you to offer them my condolences.”

She then turned serious and addressed the importance of public participation, concluding: “The stakes are too high for government to be a spectator sport.”

Final Years Teaching

After her time in Congress, she returned to teach at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. Students reported that she was never without a copy of the Constitution in her purse.

Commission on Immigration Reform

And her time in Washington was not quite at an end. In 1994, she accepted a position chairing the Commission on Immigration Reform. One of the issues facing the commission concerned children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. Barbara Jordan on the matter: “To deny birthright citizenship would derail this engine of American liberty.”

Many Honors

Barbara Jordan received many honors over her lifetime, among them was the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

She died in 1996 and is buried in the State Cemetery of Austin. Her papers are housed at the Barbara Jordan Archives at Texas Southern University. (Many of her papers can also be found online.)

Shortly after her passing, Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) made a speech to the U.S. Senate (January 22, 1996.) “If Barbara Jordan is remembered for just one thing, it will be the power of her words. Her message united people from vastly different walks of life, bringing them together to stand as one and nod their heads in unison and say, ‘Yes, each one of us can make a difference, and together we can make this nation stronger.’”

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To read about another woman who fought for civil rights, read about the citizenship schools started by Septima Clark.

And here’s a clip from Barbara Jordan’s 1976 speech to the Democratic National Convention:

• Elected as Democratic National Committeewoman from California
• Elected to the House of Representatives in 1944, becoming only one of nine women to serve in the House at that time.

Helen Gahagan Douglas was born in 1900 and was raised in a well-to-do family in Brooklyn, New York. She was not a serious student but loved acting, and by the age of 22 she had been cast in a lead role on Broadway.  She never returned to Barnard College where she had been a student.

Douglas began focusing seriously on singing opera; she went to Europe for several years where she could appear with opera companies and deepen her study.  In 1930 her father became very ill, and she returned to New York to be near her family. She also returned to Broadway where she was cast in a play opposite Melvyn Douglas (the stage name for Melvyn Hesselberg); several months later they were married.

The couple took two trips that profoundly affected Helen.  In 1937 Helen returned to Europe for a concert tour but Melvyn was not invited to parties held for her because of anti-Semitism.  (Melvyn’s father was Jewish and his mother was Protestant.)  Helen canceled her commitment for the following year and did not return because of the anti-Semitism.

Bound for California

Melvyn and Helen wanted to explore movie careers so they drove across the country to settle in Los Angeles.   Along the way they witnessed the plight of migrant workers.  The collapse of the economy in 1929 followed by the drought of the ‘30s meant there was no type of work for these people. Helen was very upset about what she observed and began to take an interest in politics.

Once in Los Angeles, Melvyn pursued a film career, and while Helen appeared in one science fiction movie, she soon turned to political causes.  In 1939 and 1940 she became a member of the national advisory committee of the Works Progress Administration and served on the State committee of the National Youth Administration. She traveled frequently to the White House to meet with Eleanor Roosevelt, and they became good friends.

In 1940, she became California Democratic national committeewoman—a post she held until 1944 when she ran for Congress and was elected as the representative of California’s Fourteenth District in the U.S. House of Representatives.  She was one of nine women in the House at that time.  She was successfully reelected to this position in 1946 and 1948 and used her star power and comfort at speaking before large crowds to advocate for labor rights, food subsidies, unemployment insurance for returning GIs, a revitalized farm security program, and income-based taxation for farmers and small business owners.

When asked about a woman’s place in Congress, Douglas replied, “Politics is a job that needs doing—by anyone who is interested enough to train for it and work at it. It’s like housekeeping; someone has to do it. Whether the job is done by men or women is not important—only whether the job is done well or badly.”

During a period when the Jim Crow laws still applied in the nation’s capital, Helen Douglas used her outsider status to challenge prevailing racial attitudes. The first white Representative with African-Americans on her staff, she also sought to desegregate Capitol restaurants. Douglas also attacked the practice of poll taxes, which effectively prevented many southern African Americans from voting, and she urged passage of anti-lynching legislation

She and Melvyn remained married but they lived separate lives for a time, and during her time in Washington, D.C. she had a relatively well-known love affair with Lyndon B. Johnson.

Ran for Senate

In 1950, she opposed Richard M. Nixon in the general election for the U.S. Senate, and it became quite a nasty campaign on both sides.  Nixon accused Douglas of Communist leanings because of her liberal record and her opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee. Nixon’s term for her was the “Pink Lady.”  He also made vaguely anti-Semitic comments referring to her as Mrs. Hesselberg (Melvyn Douglas’ real last name).

Douglas referred to Nixon as “Tricky Dick,” a term that his enemies continued to use against him for the rest of his time in political office.  However, Nixon easily won the election.

Douglas had hoped for a political appointment in the Truman administration but the campaign had been too damaging, and no politician could risk association with her during the years that HUAC was active.  Though Douglas never entered the political fray again, she remained a tireless public speaker and activist.

She later returned to the theater and performed in two Broadway plays and authored a book about her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt.

After her death from cancer in June of 1980, Senator Alan Cranston of California eulogized her on the floor of the Senate, saying “I believe Helen Gahagan Douglas was one of the grandest, most eloquent, deepest thinking people we have had in American politics. She stands among the best of our 20^th century leaders, rivaling even Eleanor Roosevelt in stature, compassion, and simple greatness.”

If there are days when you step away from the news feeling discouraged about this country, I have a solution: Plan a trip to Washington, D.C. and spend a day on Capitol Hill. You will be reminded that it is our capital and our nation; you cannot help but relish the accessibility of the United States government.

Last week I participated in Lupus Advocacy Day in Washington, an event that called for people from different areas of the country to come and discuss with elected officials their hope that more money be devoted to lupus research and education.

Lupus is a chronic, complex, and disabling autoimmune disease that affects more than 1.5 million Americans, 90 percent of them women of child-bearing age. Many of them are minorities.

Lupus is so difficult to diagnose that most people suffer overt and troubling symptoms for 3-5 years before they are diagnosed. Their diagnosis finally occurs when they are in crisis–a hospitalization that need not have happened if the disease had been recognized and treated earlier.

Just as there is government money going to cancer research, there needs to be that sort of investment in difficult-to-diagnose illnesses like lupus because they are the kind of health “puzzles” that keep national health costs high.

The plan for Lupus Advocacy Day involved members of our 40-member group dividing up by Congressional district and visiting the staff person who handled health issues in the offices of our areas’ respective elected officials.

We met the day before and reviewed with the organization what we were asking. (If you’re interested in our specific requests, I list them at the end of the article.) With three other New Yorkers, I visited the offices of U.S. Representative Nita Lowey, and Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand. In each case, we were met promptly by a staff person who listened carefully to our concerns. Jean Doyle, legislative director for Nita Lowey’s office was particularly impressive–not only did she know a lot about lupus, but she knew the health care bill inside and out.

As we worked our way through the day, I was impressed by several elements:

• Washington feels like “the people’s” city. Everyone from those walking along the street to office workers within the Senate and the House office buildings were welcoming and polite. When we needed directions, people would step out of their offices or walk along with us to better show us the way.
• The buildings around the Capitol are accessible to the citizenry. While we went through metal detectors to get into each building, the security was far less than any airport or any office in New York City. You don’t need any ID, and you get to leave your shoes on! Once we were in, we were as much a part of the people who belonged there as those who work there.
• Most of the staff members are quite young, but I found it heartening to see the knowledge and dedication of these young people—proof that there are generations behind my own who are dedicated to keeping this country strong.
• As a side observation, I can’t resist noting that the city is beautiful, and all 19 Smithsonian museums and the zoo are free…you can’t help but feel good being there.

While going with an organized group has its advantages (like someone else making the appointments) what was clear from the day and from the staff people, is that they are there to represent the People. You just need to take the initiative and let them know how you’re feeling.

If you decide to go and would like to visit a Congressional office, call ahead and tell them the one or two things that you would particularly like to discuss (don’t call with a 20-item list). The receptionist can then direct you to the person who is most knowledgeable in your area, and you can work out an appointment with that person. If you arrive without an appointment, a staff person will likely speak to you for a minute but it is not ideal. (Your chances of saying hello to your Congressperson are higher if you are from a low population state, though we were surprised and delighted that Nita Lowey stepped in to our meeting to say hello.)

One Congressional spokesperson noted that a lot of people can’t make the trip to Washington but that all Congresspeople have office staff in their local districts. “Calling the local office and talking to them or even scheduling a meeting there can be just as effective,” notes a spokesperson for Nita Lowey. Your opinions do matter.

The D.C. offices are busy places, and we were told meetings would last from 5-15 minutes. Many of the meetings are held standing in the hallway because of a lack of office space. But who can complain? Citizens in countries throughout the world would give a great deal to have this type of access to those in charge of their governments.

If you’re like me, you’ll leave knowing that despite the shrill tones and heated debates–and lack of civility–in some of our ongoing political discussions, this is still the greatest country in the world.

Now my personal obligation is to do what I can to help keep it great.

Our Requests regarding Lupus:
1. Last year, $1 million was devoted to start a nationwide lupus education program for health professionals. We asked that another $1 million be allocated for this education program to continue, which will help keep down medical costs by getting more cases diagnosed before a patient is in crisis.

2. We asked that the House and the Senate allot as much money as possible for biomedical research for this year. This was not specific to lupus, but just to affirm that we want the government to look for answers to all difficult illnesses.

3. We wanted Congress to know we support health care reform, particularly the aspects that do away with the current practice of not insuring people with pre-existing conditions and capping lifetime benefits. These are two commonly agreed-upon problems that need to be rectified for any person with a chronic illness, including diabetics, people with MS, or any other long-term disease.

For more information on lupus: www.lupusresearchinstitute.org